Who Would Have Thought
by blackcatwhitewolf
Summary: Quick thing I did. R&R so I can make it better! Joe Hardy has good reason to hide from his cousin-she wants to kill him.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes-**

**I wrote this because I'm bored because I'm stuck in bed. Hope you like it!**

**If you could, R&R it. I'll be so happy that I got my first review!**

Who Would Have Thought

Joe Hardy is hiding in the basement. Why? Because his mentally deranged cousin has finally gotten a foolproof way to kill him for (in her mind) letting her sister drown.

I'm writing this from the basement. I don't have much time; she'll find me any minute.

I need to back up.

Currently, my younger cousin is trying to kill me. No, not pretend, she's got a knife and has burned down a bunch of the houses around here.

Who's she, you may ask?

Dara Hardy, cousin on my dad's side. Small but strong (Hey, I've been thrown around by her for years. She started when she was 8. Now she's 14 and has a large hunting knife. I don't know why her parents had one in the house, knowing her.

She's always been a little loopy, always been obsessed with knives, death, superstition and snakes. She also hates me. Don't believe me? On Thanksgiving one year she stabbed her slice of turkey slowly, digging the blade around making big slices while looking at me with very little emotion (But that's normal, her face doesn't change, she never smiles or frowns or anything. She doesn't talk much, either.). She also crushed a jack-o-lantern on Halloween while staring at me with her blank grey eyes. Creepy, right? She's been like that all along. Our parents (both sets) saw it, and she had therapy and stuff.

She's a fast swimmer, like a dolphin (or a sea snake without the wriggling) in the water. And she can hold her breath for long periods of time. Once when we were at the bay she went under and stayed under for ten minutes. Our parents freaked out.

She's pretty athletic on land as well; she's never lost a race and can throw 20 pound rocks like they were pebbles.

So she would be dangerous enough, until you throw in the whole magic thing. Yes, my killer cousin has the power of talking to/controlling reptiles (Yeah, a bit like Harry Potter. A female, twisted evil Harry Potter.), and pyrokinesis. Not sure how those go together.

Why does she hate me? I have to find that memory, but it'll take a while.

I can hear her upstairs, she's calling out for me to stop playing hide and seek and accept my fate already.

Found it.

When Dara was 7 and I was 9, we were at the bay for the first time. Dara had a twin sister, who could talk to mammals and controlled water. Ironically, she didn't know how to swim. Her name was Jay. She was told to stay up on the beach, but she saw the two of us having fun, so she wanted to play too. She came down and we had a great splash fight, built sandcastles, and basically did a lot of kid stuff.

I knew how to swim and teased them by getting out of their reach and telling them to come catch me. Jay decided to and waded out toward me. I was getting the feeling that this would end badly but I ignored it. She got closer and closer but she was pretty small, and her head was craned all the way back and I'm pretty sure she was bouncing on her tiptoes. I know the bay's currents now, but back then I didn't know there was a current she was about to fall into.

All of a sudden she went under. I dove after her and swam around underwater, trying to find her, but she was gone. Her body wasn't found, and I don't know if she got out or not, no one ever announced that they found a girl, alive or dead. She was just gone.

I didn't see Dara again until the next year, and she had changed drastically. Her once lively grey eyes were now dull and glazed, like she had watched TV for too long. Her hair was limp and had no shine. She didn't talk much, only answered questions directed at her, and even then only in one- or two-word replies- unlike before when she wouldn't stop talking.

She was, in short, dead.

And she wouldn't stop staring at me with those cold eyes so unlike her old warm ones. Her eyes were accusing me of letting her sister die and condemning me to death at the same time, never leaving my face.

The first time she actually made a serious attempt to kill me was when we were in the pool and she jumped on me and held me under. Frank pulled her off of me before I passed out, but after that I stayed away from anything larger than a sink when she was in the vicinity, and locked and barred the bathroom door when I was in it.

She also tried burning me. We were having a fire in the yard and as I moved to put more brush on it, she made part of the fire try and grab me. That's the thing about her power- she can't make fires or have them grow larger without fuel, she can only manipulate them to get more fuel. That's how she burned down the houses; she made fires already in the house find fuel.

Then of course she had the reptiles. I have been chased by, bitten by and attacked by so many snakes and lizards and turtles I'm amazed I don't step on the gas if I see one in the road. In fact I'm quite tolerant of them, it's just if Dara's controlling them I start running.

And if you're wondering why she hasn't been locked up…

She was. For three years. Then she escaped twelve hours ago, which is why I'm hiding in the basement as my angry cousin searches the house for me with a hunting knife.

And now I hear the basement door opening, so I am preparing to die, because in about 30 seconds she will find me and stab me repeatedly.

No, wait, I have a large rock. Maybe I won't die.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes**

**I was intending this to be a one-shot, then I got a suggestion/vague threat from zenfrodo to continue. So I did, mainly because I was/am sick. I'm kind of glad, it gave me something to do. I also could use as much critiquing as is physically possible. TEAR IT APART! Not literally. Wow, this is long. Ok, ok, fine. Read the next chapter. Sheesh, so demanding! :D**

I turned and looked up at where Dara was coming down. I moved quickly out of sight by some boxes we never unpacked when we moved. I felt my heart rate going up and prayed she wouldn't notice any change in temperature through her pyrokinesis. I forced my breathing to slow and I clutched my rock tightly. She slowly walked around the basement, calmly looking in and behind boxes, like she was just looking for some garden tool.

Garden tool.

There was an old trowel lying on the ground next to me, rusty but probably still strong. Dara began moving over towards me, her methodical search almost finished. She walked toward the boxes and my legs tensed. I've ambushed a lot of crooks, but I never thought I'd ambush anyone I was related to besides Frank.

She jumped backward, her knife turning outward toward me. I threw the rock at her head. She glared at me as she cocked her head, letting the stone fly by.

She stabbed at my stomach and I dodged the blade. I ducked down and grabbed the trowel and stabbed at her. She hissed, her jaw slack and went for my neck. I ducked around her and tried to run but she tripped me. I hit the ground hard, my head hitting a chest. Spots flickered around my vision as I tried to shake them off, and I saw a gleaming knife blade drawn back for as much momentum as possible.

I shook the spots away and rolled to the side and scrambled up, facing Dara. She moved towards me and I pulled some boxes down between us, forcing her to stop. I turned and ran up the stairs and out of the house. I looked around; there was a house across the street, but the people who lived there were always gone in the middle of the day. Heck, every one on this block's gone in the middle of the day, except the two old people at the end of the street. I smelled smoke and turned around to see my house on fire.

Dara walked out of the house with her knife and blank face toward me. If I tried to run for the old people's house I saw the car and I ran for it. She charged, but I was within 10 feet of the passenger door. She was only halfway there when I stepped on the gas.

I shot along the road by the bay toward the cops angry that I hadn't charged my cell phone. Of course, even if it were charged, it wouldn't have done much good, seeing as there's no cell coverage in this area. Why the City Council didn't approve the installation of more cell towers, I'll never know. Then again, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be around to wonder why.

The engine spluttered and died in front of the parking lot for the bay. Town was still a ways away and I didn't know what method of transportation Dara was using, so I took a gamble with the bay.

There were a few boats on the water, so I was pretty sure Dara wouldn't try and kill me in plain sight. She knows how many times it's failed before.

I remembered the boathouse was close by, so I got the boat and got out into the middle of the bay, close to two fishermen. I leaned against the side and realized the truth I'm grateful for:

I'm alive. After all Frank and I have been through I had never thought it would feel so good to look at what just happened ten minutes ago and know that you're alive. And my parents and brother are all away from the house.

They don't know where I am. When they come back they'll get nervous, and begin making calls. I rarely go to the bay by myself, so they wouldn't look there.


End file.
